Friday’s Featured Food: Uruguayan Empanadas

Empanadas in Uruguay

Uruguayan Empanadas – a speciality in this amazing country.

I loved Uruguay and it will always rank high with me in my list of countries I’ve been to. I liked it so much I stayed there, studying Spanish and living with a local family (the wonderful Perla ). I stayed in the Parque Rodo district in Montevideo.

Empanadas in Punta del Este Uruguay

Empanada Restaurant in Punta Del Este, URUGUAY

However it wasn’t the relaxed, flambouyant Uruguayan capital city where I went to first try the real Uruguayan Empanadas…it was in the popular seaside resort of Punta del Este. Punta del Este (literally point of the east) is a beach town on the south coast of Uruguay – it has similarities to the Mediteranean resorts in Europe. One night I headed locally for Empanadas!

uruguayan empanadas in punda del este

The Uruguayan Empanadas restaurant menu in Punta Del Este!

What are empanadas? They basically are a hot tasty pastry with a range of delicious fillings! Often piping hot! Their origin is debated but it is definitely either Spanish or Portuguese – the very verb Empanar means literally “to put a bread coating on something”. So it all makes sense. However Uruguay is a country especially good at cuisine, and empanadas are fantastic here! Cue the Brazilians and Argies butting in to say theirs are the best!

a lifestyle of travel uruguayan empanadas

Uruguayan Empanadas – Friday’s Featured Food on Don’t Stop Living!

My top two were one with beef and vegetables and one with ham and cheese. I tried them a few times while in Uruguay, there are many places selling them, even bakeries, bars and street vendors.

dulce de leche - Uruguayan Empanadas

There are also sweet Uruguayan Empanadas – I love a bit of dulce de leche!

I also love dulce de leche! There’s also a few ‘sweet’ empanada options – these are slightly less common but all the more enjoyable when you find them!

On a final note – my first taste of Uruguayan Empanadas wasn’t actually in Uruguay but in Sydney, Australia when my part Argentinian flat mate cooked them for us on Christmas Day 2009. I don’t want to disappoint him too much but the Uruguayan ones were much better! Recommended! Wikipedia does the Empanada here!

Friday’s Featured Food is a regular feature on Don’t Stop Living – a lifestyle of travel !

 

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6 thoughts on “Friday’s Featured Food: Uruguayan Empanadas

  • One of the things I miss the most about travel in South America is the food. I can just imagine sinking my teeth into a tantalizing cheese empanada right now.

  • Hi Jonny, I’m from Salro Uruguay. It is in the west of the country, famous for its hot springs. I really liked your posts about Uruguay, Keep up the good work! 🙂

  • Wow Florencia!! Thanks so much for your comment. I have to admit I totally LOVED Uruguay I was blown away by the friendliness of the people and how relaxed and cool it was compared to Argentina (which I found the people to be very arrogant). I would really love to visit Uruguay again and go away from the tourist places like Montevideo and Punta DE and head inland and – I’ll definitely keep you in mind for Salro – sounds amazing. Are you on Twitter? Add me on there and I’ll keep touch! I also need to update some of my Uruguay stories – when I get the time…Safe travels. Jonny

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